Stories of faith, courage and hope

Category Archives: Charity Work

Teenagers often get a bad reputation for being detached and disengaged, but many young people learn a lot about fellowship through their church’s youth programs. If you feel like your teens could be more passionate about coming together, make sure your church is doing its best to promote social engagement with other young Christians.

Photo by Hannah Valentine on Unsplash

Invest in Church Camps

Camp is an excellent idea for any kid that spends too much time indoors during the summer, but church organizations offer all the fun and adventure of a normal camp while also nurturing a child’s relationship with God. Churches that want to sponsor members of their congregation to attend can hold fundraisers and track budgetary progress using church accounting software.

Think Outside the Box With VBS

Vacation Bible School is a successful institution that encourages local churches to educate their youth on the Bible in an exciting way. Each annual VBS session typically features a theme with activities and lessons that tie in. Be creative in coming up with these themes and do some research to keep the agenda of events unique and engaging.

Organize Fun Social Events

Consider the things that teenagers already enjoy doing: video games, movie marathons, trivia, etc., and then put together events centered around these activities. Encourage kids to bring their friends from school so that new bonds and connections can be made. Provide pizza and snacks to keep the energy up long enough to build some real fellowship.

Promote Volunteering

Organize field trips to animal shelters, retirement homes or the local park where teens can give back by helping out. By encouraging a group outing, more participants are drawn to come because they’ll have friendly company, and each person has the chance to meet new people.

However you choose to encourage fellowship in your church community, it’s important to keep it fun. The more exciting an event can be, the more attendance you’re likely to attract.

FROM rampaging lahar flows in Pampanga to the great flood in Ormoc, Sister Aurora Macabebe was there to care for the dying and the dead.

“Isa ako sa mga namumulot ng patay, bringing their bodies to the funeral parlor,” the (then) 64-year-old nun said as she recounts her six-year stint as part of the disaster management team of the Daughter of Charity.

(Note: During the time of interview Sister Aurora is the spiritual counselor for patients afflicted with the deadly AIDS virus at the Halfway House in San Lazaro Compound in Sta. Cruz, Manila.)

Sister Aurora works for the AIDS prevention program of Caritas Manila. Aside from teaching hobby-craft to patients to temporarily relieve their minds of the inevitable (that is death), Sister Aurora conducted one-one-one counseling sessions with each patient.

But oftentimes, they walk an extra-mile for many “special cases.”

One such case is that of a patient whose only wish was to meet his mother whom he had not seen for a long time.

“I called up a fellow sister in Sorsogon to let the mother visit his ailing son. They hugged and kissed upon seeing each other. Now he’s very happy and seem to get stronger each day,”

The soft-spoken Ilongga sister, said doing social work entails equipping one’s self with KASE – knowledge, attitude, skill and experience.

She added that one must have self-discipline, good values, maturity, and knowledge of cultural values to be able to interact with different kinds of people.

“Before we really don’t mind about ourselves, but at this point in time, self is very important because you cannot give what you don’t have. So if we lack these things, we don’t know how to listen to them,” the nun stressed.

Citing her 15 challenging years as a social worker, Sister Aurora said she and others in the same profession perform a very unique role in the community as far as bringing individuals to the mainstream is concerned.

“When you see a sick person, whom do you call, a doctor; when somebody is at fault, you call the police or lawyer to defend; so when somebody is dying you call a priest to save his soul; but when somebody cannot interact with others or if somebody is maladjusted to his environment or his community, who is the one answering, intervening? It is the social worker,” she explained.

“My work here is very challenging, you only need a lot of patience, generosity and compassion. You cannot expect something from them but give them compassion and this can bring them back to God. In their last days, they could die a happy death,” she shared.

Sister Aurora said she has learned to love each of the patients at the half-way house.

Sister Aurora said a patient who ws not even a Catholic requested that the receive the Holy Communion before he died.

“He cannot find peace of mind, he later became a born-again Christian. He joined group sessions and activities like group singing. But when his time came, I asked him if he wants to see a priest, he agreed so we prayed for him, he took a communion that night at about 11 p.m. the man died. Hindi mabibili ng pera ang nararamdaman naming kaligayahan ng mga oras na ‘yon,” she narrates.

This article was one of the few articles I did for Courier, the flagship publication of PJI, before it folded up in 2000.

Karapatan and relatives of political prisoners lauded the efforts of The Actors Guild of the Philippines and the Film Artists Group led by human rights advocate and artist Maria Isabel Lopez and beauty queen Evangeline Pascual in mounting the successful benefit exhibit of showbiz personalities for the campaign and welfare fund of political prisoners in the Philippines.

The exhibit dubbed “PortrAYAL (LAYA): Portraits for Freedom” opened on July 5 at the ART Center in Megamall Building A, Mandaluyong City. Karapatan and relatives of political prisoners, as beneficiaries of the said project, attended the opening. Former political prisoner Rep. Neri Colmenares, Sen. Francis “Chiz” Escudero, former Rep. Liza Maza, Quezon City Mayor Herbert Bautista, actor Pen Medina, scriptwriter Ricky Lee also attended the exhibit opening to lend their support for the project.

Karapatan secretary general Cristina Palabay, in the opening program, thanked the artists for their support to the political prisoners and human rights causes in the country.

“Political prisoners defend and uphold the people’s democratic rights, including the freedom of expression and the right to uphold and fight for their political beliefs. Peace consultants Alan Jazmines, Eduardo Sarmiento, Renante Gamara and Adelberto Silva are artists at the forefront of the people’s movement for the defense of these rights and for genuine change,” she stated.

Nikki Gamara, daughter of political prisoner Renante Gamara, said “It is a comfort to us relatives that the support for the release of my father and all political prisoners is gaining ground. We highly appreciate their solidarity through their artworks and encouraging words.”

On July 24 to 25, Karapatan and the End Impunity Alliance are scheduled to mount another exhibit of portraits of political prisoners by renowned social realists such as Neil Doloricon and Egay Fernandez, feminist artists from Kasibulan and young activist-artists at the Maximillan Gallery, Po’s Building, Tomas Morato corner Scout Madriñan, Quezon City.